Bill Text: TX HR969 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Enrolled

Texas House Resolution 969 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Tim Cole Act, paying tribute to the lives of Timothy Cole, James Lee Woodard, Johnnie Lindsey, Billy James Smith, and Ronald Gene Taylor, and recognizing the Innocence Project of Texas.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-05-17 - Reported enrolled [HR969 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HR969-Enrolled.html



	H.R. No. 969



	R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, The year 2019 marks the 10th anniversary of the
	passage of the Tim Cole Act by the 81st Texas Legislature, and this
	milestone provides a fitting opportunity to honor the memory of
	those esteemed Texans who dedicated their lives to improving the
	state's criminal justice system; and
	WHEREAS, Signed into law by Governor Rick Perry in 2009, the
	Tim Cole Act increased financial compensation for the wrongly
	imprisoned; the legislation is named in honor of Timothy Cole, the
	first person in the country to be exonerated posthumously through
	DNA testing; a veteran of the U.S. Army and former Texas Tech
	student, Mr. Cole died in prison in 1999; his family, the crime
	victim, and the Innocence Project of Texas worked together to clear
	his name, and he received the state's first posthumous pardon in
	2010; five years later, his alma mater presented his family with an
	honorary degree in law and social justice to recognize Mr. Cole's
	sacrifice and contributions to reforms in the state's criminal
	justice system; the city of Lubbock now has a statue dedicated to
	his memory, and a Texas Historical Commission marker is in place
	near his gravesite in Fort Worth, his hometown; and
	WHEREAS, The Innocence Project of Texas was founded in 2006
	by attorneys Mike Ware and Jeff Blackburn to provide pro bono
	investigative and legal services to indigent Texans convicted of
	crimes they did not commit; since its inception, the organization
	and its board members have won the freedom of 25 men and women;
	among those cleared were three men, now deceased, who devoted
	themselves to helping others still wrongfully incarcerated; and
	WHEREAS, On March 28, 2019, staff, board members, exonerees,
	and volunteers of the Innocence Project of Texas are visiting the
	State Capitol for the inaugural Innocence Project of Texas Advocacy
	Day, bringing broader statewide attention to the need for criminal
	justice reform and to the contributions of exonerees who have
	passed away; and
	WHEREAS, James Lee Woodard of Dallas County was exonerated in
	2009 following 27 years in prison, and while working on behalf of
	criminal justice reform, he donated $100,000 to study the causes of
	wrongful convictions, including faulty eyewitness identification;
	he passed away in October 2012; and
	WHEREAS, Billy James Smith of Dallas County, exonerated in
	2006 following two decades in prison, accepted speaking engagements
	across the country to address criminal justice reform; in addition,
	he testified before the U.S. Congress and the Texas Legislature on
	numerous pieces of legislation; in the spring of 2007, he spoke
	passionately at a public meeting of the Dallas County Commissioners
	Court asking that they fund what would become the first Conviction
	Integrity Unit in the country; the unit's ensuing successes gave
	rise to conviction integrity units all over the United States; he
	passed away in March 2017; and
	WHEREAS, Johnnie Lindsey of Dallas County, imprisoned for 26
	years before his exoneration in 2008, became a private investigator
	and process server while working to free the innocent; he died in
	February 2018; and
	WHEREAS, A fourth man, Ronald Gene Taylor of Harris County,
	served 13 years in prison until 2008, when he was exonerated by the
	work of the Innocence Project based in New York; he dedicated
	himself to criminal justice reform at the state and national level
	until his death in September 2018; and
	WHEREAS, These brave and resolute Texans set an inspiring
	example through their tremendous commitment to criminal justice
	reform, and their legacy will long endure; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas
	Legislature hereby commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Tim Cole
	Act, pay tribute to the lives of Timothy Cole, James Lee Woodard,
	Johnnie Lindsey, Billy James Smith, and Ronald Gene Taylor, and
	recognize the ongoing work of the Innocence Project of Texas to
	right the wrongs that have occurred through mistakes made in our
	criminal justice system.

	Anchia

	______________________________
	Speaker of the House

	I certify that H.R. No. 969 was adopted by the House on May
	15, 2019, by a non-record vote.

	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House